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Saudi man arrested with pressure cooker at U.S. airport

By Jeff KaroubThe Associated Press

Tues., May 14, 2013

DETROIT—A Saudi man arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after federal agents said he lied about why he was travelling with a pressure cooker is due in court.

Hussain Al Khawahir is scheduled to appear Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit for a hearing to determine whether he will be released on bond or detained.

Al Khawahir was arrested Saturday on allegations of lying to agents and using a passport with a missing page. His nephew, Nasser Almarzooq, told The Associated Press Monday the case was a misunderstanding about the device he wanted for cooking.

Almarzooq says his uncle was coming to visit him for a couple weeks. Almarzooq is a student in University of Toledo in Ohio.

Two pressure cookers were used in the Boston Marathon bombings last month.

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Gina Balaya, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Detroit, said Al Khawahir made his initial court appearance Sunday, but his Monday detention hearing was delayed until Tuesday afternoon. A message seeking comment was left with his defence attorney.

Authorities have said that in the Boston Marathon bombing, brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev set off two shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs April 15 near the race finish line. The attack killed three people and injured more than 260 others.

On Monday, Almarzooq said he was concerned about his uncle and hadn’t been told anything since his uncle was arrested Saturday. He also vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

“If I wanted to do something stupid like this, should I just take my uncle from Saudi Arabia to buy me a pressure cooker?” he said. “It’s legal here.”

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